Orama Update #7: A deep dive into Ahref on YouTube
The SEO brand has 5 times the subscribers of their nearest competitor - but it's not what makes them stand out
Welcome to the Orama Newsletter. I’m George, Founder/Producer at Orama, and this is a monthly newsletter that I send mainly to clients and partners, with two goals:
Build in public and share thoughts & insights about the world of video and podcasting for brands
Keep you in the loop with the latest offers & developments at Orama.
How Ahrefs creates Educational Masterpieces that SELL
TL;DW (Too Long; Didn’t Watch)
Ahrefs is an SEO brand crushing larger competitors (Hubspot, Moz, Semrush) on YouTube. It has almost 500k subscribers and many videos have raked in millions of views, including a 2-hour long SEO course.
But what makes them unique is how they “sell” by “placing” their product in the video and using it as a natural tool for solving the viewers’ problems
They sell to individuals but they’re in a B2B industry and they’re cleverly targeting professional digital marketers
This successful strategy is supported by a strong creative framework
Style: great production values
Optimization: just look at the thumbnail
Narrative: they bring in stories, and make them personal
Content: it’s insightful, authentic, well researched - and always featuring their products!
The key takeaway for marketers is that you can and should place your products, and services in tutorial videos. Something that is rarely done, or too timidly.
And it can replace testimonials (that nobody watches).
Here’s an idea. Use your testimonial:
How [client] achieved [win] with [your help]
How [successful B2B fintech brand] closes more enterprise deals thanks to its podcast produced by Orama
And transform it into a tutorial:
3 [tips] to [win] in [niche industry] - with the help of a service we provide, and that we will show in the video without selling it
Steal [successful B2B fintech brand] business development secrets - it involves podcasting and we will show you how we take care of everything from them, but that’s not the title of the video
Behind the scenes
As I was planning a breakdown of Ahrefs content, followed by other brands, it occurred to me that I might as well do it in video format, and create a new show.
What I didn’t want to do was spend hours on the branding and the details, because it’s an experiment (and I’d love your feedback, by the way). The “brand” and logo (Discontent) will be replaced soon. With zero promotion and starting with zero subscribers, I was pleasantly surprised at how YouTube helped content discovery, generating a decent amount of views.
The idea
To create a Show for those who create content to sell products or services, that are too smart, too complex, and too niche to be marketed simply. That's any business that's deemed "boring", like many B2B or knowledge industries. Those that require longer sales cycles, complex purchasing processes with multiple stakeholders, or just need to educate their prospects before they can sell to them.
Some of the key industries I have in mind: B2B SaaS, Financial services, Marketing tools, Higher education.
And when I say “Show”, I mean a podcast as well. I will invite experts to help me break down content strategies and learn some new tricks.
The execution
In January I wrote
Video (followed by audio) is the most powerful way to establish trust at scale: beyond your expertise, people can know you, relate to you and feel like they could work with you!
So I had to put myself in front of the camera, and on the thumbnail! It’s not something I’m naturally keen on or comfortable with, but I just need to get over it.
There’s a lot that can be improved.
For my video production business, it’s risky to publish something that doesn’t match the production level we deliver to our clients. It’s a risk I took here because I didn’t want my team to spend time on this at this stage, as they’re busy on client projects.
I think it’s an acceptable production value (above the minimum threshold), but the branding needs some work and my basic setup also creates some basic technical issues with sound and image: I use the built-in camera of my laptop and a microphone.
Iterations
I’ve already changed the title a few times, I’m about to rethink the thumbnail. As I’m working on the next piece of content, my focus will be to improve the premise and the hook. Can I build something that truly resonates? Can I build someone’s favourite show?
When the content and concept are validated we will invest more resources into it, and review the branding.
Next:
I’m working on a shallow dive into the content strategy of a16z, one of the most successful and influential venture capital firms. It’s shallow because instead of going deep and narrow, like I did here I’ll look at their content overall.
Previously: